


Cold Nights in Gotham

by peachybats



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 19:07:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19257364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachybats/pseuds/peachybats
Summary: this is an entirely self-indulgent drabble. i really only expect myself & one other person to read it but if you do thanks?





	Cold Nights in Gotham

“This is bullshit.”

Jason grumbles, his voice coming out low and garbled through his mask. He shoves his shoulders higher up, trying to sink into his jacket and looking distinctly like a turtle.

It’s fifteen below freezing in Gotham City, the coldest it’s been all year, and they’re standing on top of a skyscraper– for once, Dick is inclined to agree with his brother. The streets were quiet after all, (or at least as quiet as Gotham ever got), too cold for the petty criminals to be out and too cold for enough citizens to be out to entice the big players.

“Mm. Only Freeze would be out on a night like this and he’s still locked up in Arkham.”

Dick rubs his hand against the back of his neck as he speaks, looking at Jason from the corner of his eye.

“Dad isn’t even out here and neither is the brat,” Jason points out, as if Dick somehow missed that detail, “so why are we?”

“Because he has a _Bruce Wayne_ job tonight and Damian is with him. It’s just another hour and I’m sure Alfred will have hot chocolate ready if you ask nicely.”

He rolls his eyes, shoving his hands up into his armpits in an attempt to bring some warmth back into his fingers.

“Maybe you should have brought coffee like I did.”

Tim’s voice is smug from where he’s sitting on the roof, laced with self-satisfaction at having one-upped them. Dick is about to throw a snarky reply about Tim’s addiction when he turns, but his voice catches in his throat when he catches sight of his other brother- or rather the person with his brother.

Addie has been strangely quiet where she would normally be complaining with Jason, but he had chalked her silence up to being grumpy. He hadn’t expected her to find some _other_ way to keep warm.

She’s sitting on her knees behind Tim, one knee on either side of him, pressed up against his back with his cape wrapped around her. Her chin is resting on his shoulder, reading over the same screen he’s reading and Dick can see her lips move as she points something out to the other man. Her voice is too quiet for him to hear at this distance but the sight of it makes something ugly and green coil up in his chest, even though he has no standing to be jealous.

Jason notices because of course, Jason would be the one to notice, and Dick can perfectly picture the smirk that must be forming on his face under the hood. He can hear it in his voice when he opens his mouth.

“What the hell are you two doing?”

Tim turns to look at them, as much as he can with Addie right there, raising an eyebrow.

“Looking over the latest report from the GCPD, why?”

“Uh, I meant with the rooftop snuggle session?” Jason points out, gesturing his hand in a general circle toward the two younger team members.

“His cape is like a blanket!”

Addie answers, sounding significantly more cheerful than anyone else.

“Maybe you two should rethink the cape look.”

Tim adds, laughter lacing his tone. It makes sense, objectively, his black and red cape is big enough to cover both of their smaller frames. But even though he knows it doesn’t mean anything the little voice in the back of Dick’s head is still whispering ugly insinuations about what else the two might get up to when he isn’t paying attention.

It’s a ridiculous notion and he knows that, but still, a pout pulls across his mouth and he turns away, curling his arms across his chest. All of them are touchy-feely people, and he’s no exception, so it’s stupid to be jealous but he can’t help it. Especially when she normally hangs all over him, even on patrol. Of course, his luck means that nothing worth noticing occurs and he spends the rest of the patrol in his own head.

“Dick?”

Addie’s voice pulls him back to the present, and he shakes his head to clear it.

“Come on,” she leans her shoulder against his for a moment before making to jump off the edge of the building. “Patrols over and Alfred actually made hot chocolate.”

He follows her and his brothers without a lot of thought, letting muscle memory carry him home. They sit around the kitchen counter stripped of their suits as Tim recounts the nights' uneventful patrol to Bruce when he asks and they sip on their warm drinks, all of them tired and ready to find somewhere warm to curl up.

Dick leaves the kitchen first, barely hearing Bruce point out that Addie is more than welcome to spend the night instead of heading home, and finds his way to the sitting room with it’s almost constantly lit fireplace, collapsing on his back on the couch. He doesn’t feel like going to his dark room right now, comforted by the firelight. He fell asleep on the old leather often as a child, and even with his mind still racing it lulls him in quickly. He’s almost fully out when another body drops on top of his, making him grunt.

“Hello?”

He mumbles, opening one eye to see Addie settling between his legs and curling up on his chest. It doesn’t surprise him that she found him, but he is momentarily surprised that she wanted to.

“You really should rethink the cape look,” she says, her tired voice almost a whisper. “at least for the winter.”

The ugly feeling in his chest recedes as she lays against him, already drifting off, satisfied with the knowledge that she’s comfortable being at her most vulnerable with him. He still remembers how she slept when they first met- tight in the fetal position with her hand on a weapon, ready to wake at the barest hint of noise. But she sleeps soundly around him now. She trusts him and even seeks him out. He makes a humming noise in response, settling an arm over her waist and closing his eyes again. One day he’ll figure out how to tell her how he feels, but for tonight this can be enough.


End file.
